The life-threatening stabbing of gang guru Nicholas (Nick) Chan on April 23 could be the catalyst for renewed eruption of violence between his FOB and bitter rival FK, according to statements made to police as part of an information to obtain a search warrant of Chan’s home.

One criminal, who is familiar with the feud that has claimed 25 lives over several years, says Chan knows who his attackers are and told a detective that “gang violence between Nick Chan and his enemies will be reigniting imminently and that police will be busy as a result.”

The witness, a drug trafficker and producer who has an extremely violent history including a conviction for attempted murder, is not being named because he is not currently charged with any gang-related offence.

This spring, Nick Chan was attacked by two males and stabbed seven times after he and his girlfriend left Community Natural Foods on 10th Avenue S.W. and entered his truck.

Chan, according to the court document sworn by Det. Geoff Brydges, was able to drive away from the parking lot of the food store and travel east along 10th Avenue, where he was found seated in the driver’s seat of his Toyota pickup by emergency workers.

Investigators tried three times to interview Chan at Foothills Hospital, but he refused each time to provide a statement and is not co-operating with police.

FK member Billy Ly was subsequently charged with attempted murder.

Police said that shortly after the stabbing, Ly’s BMU X5 SUV was captured on a traffic camera for speeding while going westbound on 11th Avenue at 14th Street S.W.

In July, police made several arrests in connection with three unsolved murders dating back to 2008.

Chan, 35, was at that time charged in connection with all three cases involved in what police dubbed the Desino investigation: the killing of Kevin Anaya, who was shot in front of a home in Marlborough in August 2008; the shooting of Kevin Ses and Tina Kong at a northeast Calgary restaurant in October 2008; and the triple homicide of FK member Sanjeev Mann, cocaine dealer Aaron Bendle and bystander Keni Su’a at the Bolsa Restaurant on Jan. 1, 2009.

Since then, former FOB members Michael Roberto and Hans (Jay) Eastgaard have given statements in exchange for legal immunity from three murder charges each in exchange for their testimony at what could potentially be several trials.

Police Chief Rick Hanson vowed investigators will keep up their efforts to crack the unsolved cases that remain, as well as curbing future violence.

“We will continue to be relentless, as it pertains to any crime they committed,” Hanson said after the multiple charges were announced.

Acting Staff Sgt. Gord Eiriksson of the Gang Suppression Unit, in his expert opinion to support the search warrant for Nick Chan’s home, said the initial animosity between the gangs more than a decade ago resulted in fights and the use of weapons such as machetes, bats and knives.

However, he said the violence escalated over the years to use of firearms, including automatic weapons. As a result, at least 25 people have been killed.

Eiriksson said trafficking in illegal drugs is the primary source of income for the two criminal groups. Almost all members or associates are involved in drug trafficking, he said, although not all are involved in violence.

As time went by, their illegal operations became more sophisticated, using multiple strategies and complex surveillance systems for rival gangsters, according to Eiriksson’s report.

“This includes advanced levels of surveillance and counter surveillance, using GPS trackers on rival’s vehicles, utilizing ‘taxes’ on rivals, using body armour and ‘kill kits,’ infiltrating private and government businesses to obtain intelligence, utilizing hidden compartments in vehicles, using sophisticated weaponry, employing tandem vehicles for surveillance and shootings and renting vehicles to avoid detection,” states the report.

Eiriksson based his opinion from reading court transcripts of gang members regarding the existence of the two gangs, attending funerals of victims of gang violence, intercepting private telephone calls, attending crime scenes and speaking to correctional officers where gang members are incarcerated.

“The animosity is so great that, provincially, the institutions deem the risk too great to house opposing factions in the same facility,” says the document, quoting Eiriksson’s opinion.

Generally, FOB members are incarcerated at Bowden, FKs at Drumheller.

Eiriksson stated that during a search of a DeWinton residence belonging to Tony Beare, associated with the FOBs, police found an ‘FK To Do List,’ which he believes was intelligence gathered by FOBs or associates to continue violence against the FK.

He said it is not easy to determine who is associated with such gangs, “unlike the typical Hollywood portrayal of gangs, that FOB and FK groups prefer anonymity within the community. They typically don’t advertise their gang ties by way of ‘colours,’ hand signs or enforcing turf.

Also, neither of the two rivals are structured in the same manner as Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs), which have a specific hierarchy with president, vice-president, etc., club house and meeting nights.

“There may be some leadership amongst the FOB and FK groups, but the structure of the cells is more flat than pyramid as found with the OMGs,” says Eiriksson’s report. “The groups don’t identify as members or associates typically, and prefer to call themselves ‘friends.’ They don’t have clubhouses or meeting nights.”

Eiriksson said the violence between the gangs is extreme, resulting in not only deaths and of rival members, but there have been injuries and deaths to bystanders, such as Keni Su’a in the infamous Bolsa restaurant shootings. FK member Sanjeev Mann and FK associate Aaron Bendle were also slain.

Chan’s brush with death also goes back to June 2003 when he was assaulted by Michael Oduneye, then believed to be with FK, while both were incarcerated at Calgary Remand Centre.

In November 2002, Chan was with a group of people including his brother Tim Chan and Jason Youn who were shot at outside South Centre Mall.

Chan was also arrested for causing a disturbance at Foothills Hospital in November 2008, following a multiple victim shooting of people associated to the FOBs. Chan was wearing body armour at the time.

He remains in custody facing several charges related to the three murders.

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